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Robert Moore, the former superintendent of Richmond Heights Schools, was sentenced to a year in prison Thursday on corruption charges. In this photo from last month, he prepared to plead guilty to the charges.
(Marvin Fong/The Plain Dealer)

Richard Muse, the former director of building and grounds at Richmond Heights Schools, was sentenced to 10 months in prison Thursday for corruption-related charges. In this photo, he pleaded guilty to the charges last month.Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Former Richmond Heights Superintendent Robert Moore II was sentenced to a year in prison for extorting money from a day-care operator.

The district's former director of building and grounds, Richard Muse, was ordered to spend 10 months in prison for his role as Moore's bagman.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold ordered the men to prison following a two-hour hearing. The former officials pleaded guilty April 30 to corruption-related charges involving payments Moore accepted in February from a day-care operator who ran her private business from the district's elementary school.

Bobby Jordan, the president of the school board, told Saffold that superintendents are not just leaders of school districts but role models. He said Moore "stole money from a district that is swimming in debt.'' He said the district has a budget of about $13 million and faces a shortfall of about $800,000.

Matthew Meyer, an assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor, said the case was egregious, as Moore and Muse took money in February from a day-care operator who was, and still is, suffering from cancer.

The woman, a retired school teacher, ran a private childcare center in a district elementary school building and was told that Moore demanded that she start paying him cash for that privilege, according to investigators. In total, investigators said, she paid about $3,500.

Meyer said the bribes were paid within 100 feet from the city's police station. In one payment, he said, Muse collected the money and gave it to Moore. The woman, wearing a video recorder, told Muse that she feared the payment wasn't right, according to a tape of the meeting.

"I feel like a crook,'' the woman said.

Muse responded: "Why?'' He then told her things would be fine, according to the tape.

Muse told Saffold that he blindly followed Moore's instructions to pick up the money. He said he didn't become suspicious until after he handed the money to Moore.

The officials were quickly accused of bribery, extortion and theft in office. They were later charged with tampering with evidence involving district records.

They resigned in April. Muse was hired late last year, while Moore became superintendent in 2012 after serving as interim superintendent for eight months. Before that he also worked for 20 years as a teacher, principal and assistant superintendent with Cleveland schools.

Moore's attorney, John McCaffrey, said the incident was an aberration in a stellar career. Several other friends and colleagues echoed that. And McCaffrey also said the day-care provider initiated the payment to Moore.

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